Virtual Victory
by JMProfio
Summary: AU where instead of actually winning the war Bobby's been trapped inside a LifeLight simulation. Was originally much longer, but I lost my original files when my laptop died so now it's a oneshot. Lots and lots of Bobby/Dane shipping, and an attempt was made at slash.
**[Author's Note: Okay I lost the original draft of this story. It was going to be this big dramatic multichapter thing, and it was going to be amazing. But the 3 chapters I'd written were on my old laptop, and when I tried to boot it up the other day I found out that apparently the harddrive keeled over. So I've lost the original draft of this story, along with a bunch of movies and other stories that were saved on there, and instead of a big epic thing I've got this oneshot instead. Sorry.**

 **Also just a warning in advance—this is my attempt at writing slash. It's going to get kinda graphic, so if that's not your cup of tea you've been warned.]**

Bobby had long since figured out it was a simulation. He'd been in LifeLight before, knew how it worked—it was obviously a fake. But no matter how hard he tried, he was stuck inside, living out an idealized version of his own life, with no war for Halla, no threat to the universe, and most importantly, no Saint Dane.

Until today.

Once he'd hit his 21st birthday a slew of clubs and bars had suddenly appeared on the edge of town, probably created from his expectations that 21 was the age where you got to drink and party. He went to one once, and immediately decided it wasn't his thing. Too loud, too crowded, and surprisingly bright. Was that how he had imagined nightclubs would be? Or was that just what nightclubs on Veelox were like, and the simulation was drawing from its stock database?

But as he was leaving, he'd passed by someone in an alley. The figure seemed different than the others in the simulation—more... _solid_ , for lack of a better word. After a while Bobby had begun to pick up on the slight flaws in LifeLight technology, the way things shimmered slightly at the edges if he looked hard enough. But this person... this person was _real_.

He was tall and thin, in a bright red suit with gold trim. His hair partially obscured his face, but Bobby could still make out his eyes—his bright, icy blue eyes.

 _Look at you_ , he thought bitterly. _All young and regal looking_.

Bobby was almost entirely certain that he wasn't supposed to recognize Saint Dane. The simulation had reset everything after he'd "won" the war, and no one else seemed to even remember that it had happened. It would be best to play dumb, he realized. _Let Dane think I've forgotten him_. _Catch him off guard_.

"Hey," he said, adopting a casual tone as he approached the alley. "You must be new to town."

Dane had been watching him intently, his expression unreadable. Now he smiled slightly, replying, "Yes, I just got here today. This town is definitely more lively than I expected."

"This stuff's pretty new," Bobby replied, gesturing back toward the clubs. "You'd think it just popped out of nowhere overnight."

The demon smirked slightly. "Seems like it."

Bobby held out a hand, going out of his way to make his "first impression" as painfully friendly as he possibly could. "I'm Bobby, by the way. Have we met somewhere before?"

"Not likely," Dane replied. "Call me Dane."

Bobby grinned, an idea springing into his mind. _Catch him off guard_ , right? He could think of the perfect way to catch the blue-eyed man off guard. As Dane reached to shake his hand, Bobby jerked him forward and wrapped his free hand around the taller man's waist; then, in the same split second, he placed a forceful kiss on Dane's lips.

The demon was certainly stunned by the unexpected turn of events—Bobby could see it in his eyes as he pulled back slowly, still keeping their bodies close together. Then the next thing he knew, Dane had spun him around and pinned him to the wall of the alley, reciprocating the kiss tenfold.

The smaller man kissed back reflexively, even as a part of his brain screamed that he should really stop this, seriously, _he was kissing Saint Dane_. Their lips clashed together, hands exploring clothing and skin frantically, the rough brick of the wall pressing onto Bobby's back. Eventually the little voice in the back of his brain won out, and he pushed Dane back slightly, flushed and gasping for breath.

"Maybe... Maybe this isn't a good idea?" he managed.

Dane raised an eyebrow at him. "If I remember correctly, you're the one who kissed _me_."

"Yeah, yeah I did. But..." Bobby hesitated, fumbling for an excuse. He _sure_ as hell couldn't tell Dane that he remembered him now, not after _that_. But from a standpoint of two strangers meeting in an alley, he _had_ been the one to make the first move. And the kiss hadn't been all that bad...

He pushed away the thought. This was _Saint Dane_ he was talking about here. The guy that had trapped him in LifeLight to begin with, not to mention the damage that he's probably done to Halla by now, the people who have died, the worlds that have been destroyed. It didn't matter if he _was_ an amazing kisser, or if there _had_ been a little jolt of electricity as he'd been pressed up against the wall, or if Bobby _did_ enjoy the way his hands felt resting gently on his hips...

Dane was watching him with a curious expression. "Having second thoughts?"

"I, um..." Bobby struggled to find the right words, battling against himself to decide what to do. On the one hand, this was a man capable of unspeakable things. On the other hand... he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, felt the blush spreading across his cheeks as he looked into the lightning blue eyes. He swallowed, looking instead at the ground. "I just... I don't usually do this sort of thing... I mean, heck, that's the first time I've even _kissed_ a guy..."

"I see." Dane ran a hand lightly through the younger man's hair, a slight smile on his face. Then he gently ran his hand along Bobby's chin, tilting his face back up as the Traveler's blush deepened. Softly, he pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss.

Bobby kissed back, cautiously, gripping the material of Dane's shirt in his hands, ignoring the confusion spreading in his mind. _Why_ was he okay with this? Why was he letting Dane kiss him, and why was he kissing him back, and why did it feel so perfect and amazing to be doing it? And why did he do it in the first place?

 _To catch him off guard_. Yeah, right. If anyone was caught off guard, Bobby thought, it definitely wasn't Dane.

As soon as Bobby shut the door to his apartment behind them, Dane pressed him against the door and kissed him again. It wasn't as rough as their first kisses, or as gentle as the ones that followed, but each kiss seemed deeper, more urgent than the last. Their tongues danced, their hands roamed, their breathing grew deep and ragged. Dane's hands slid under Bobby's shirt, coaxing it up and over his head, their lips parting only long enough to get the shirt off before pressing together again.

Bobby could still hear that little voice in the back of his head, the part of him that was wondering why he was doing this, why Dane was going along with it, why it felt so _amazing_ to be in his enemy's arms like this. But the objections weren't winning out this time—it didn't matter _why_ it was happening, all that mattered was that it was, and for whatever reason he _wanted_ to do this, and by the time the two had reached the bedroom, a trail of clothing behind them, any second thoughts he might have had were gone.

Dane pressed him down into the sheets, placing another kiss on the younger man's lips before letting his kisses drift further down, across his chest, across his stomach. Bobby ran his hands through the demon's hair, gasping slightly as Dane ran his tongue along bare skin, traveling back upward until they were once again kissing, body heat radiating between them.

Their bodies moved together slowly, cautiously, then faster, more urgently, their breathing devolving into pants and moans, hands grasping desperately on bare skin, sliding over thick beads of sweat. Bobby dug his nails into Dane's back, not caring about the fact that the man had destroyed civilizations, worlds, lives. The only thing that mattered was that moment, that feeling, that heat slowly spreading through his chest until he thought that he was going to explode.

Afterwards, as the sweat cooled on their skin and their breathing began to slow, Bobby curled up next to Dane and closed his eyes, content even as the voice of worry started creeping its way back into his mind.

The next morning was when the panic really started to set in. Bobby woke up in Dane's arms, and a deep blush rushed across his face as he remembered what he had done. Even if he _was_ just in LifeLight, he could tell that this wasn't just a part of the simulation; the man in his bed was as real as he was, and this had just happened, albeit in a virtual setting.

He had just slept with Saint Dane. He had just slept with the man who took over Halla and trapped him in a LifeLight machine. And... he wasn't exactly regretting it. No, he realized, he wasn't regretting it at _all_. Lying in his enemy's arms was strangely _comfortable_ , and he found himself reaching up and stroking the sleeping demon's hair, a slight smile on his face.

Why wasn't he worrying more? Why wasn't he springing out of bed, demanding to know what sort of underhanded trick Dane had used to convince him to do this? Why was he just lying there, thinking that Dane had surprisingly soft hands, and that the tall man actually looked kind of beautiful when he was asleep?

Dane began to stir, opening his eyes and smiling sleepily at Bobby. "Well," he mumbled. "This was certainly unexpected."

Bobby blushed, avoiding the icy blue gaze as he mumbled back, "Yeah, you can say that again."

He had to tell him, Bobby realized. He couldn't just pretend that he didn't know he was in LifeLight, not now that he was... he wouldn't say he was _falling_ for the older man, but as the thought passed through his mind he realized that was exactly what it was. He had fallen for Dane, and he had fallen hard.

How would Dane react? If Bobby said that he knew they were in a simulation, that he could remember everything that had happened, what would be his response? Would he feel like Bobby had purposely tricked him, or like the entire thing had been some sort of elaborate plot? The worries floated around in Bobby's mind, and he reflected on how bizarre it was that he was concerned about upsetting his arch-enemy.

"Is something wrong?" Dane asked, directing a look of concern at the younger male.

"No," Bobby answered quickly. "I just... I had a... bad dream." It wasn't a very convincing lie, but as he looked into the lightning blue eyes he wanted so desperately not to mess this up, to just stay in this moment for just a little while longer.

The demon smirked slightly, and raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to talk about it?"

 _I have to tell him_ , Bobby thought. _I have to tell him now or it'll just get harder to tell him later._

"Well," he began, looking away as he began to speak. "I..."

 _Just say it. Just tell him the truth and get it over with. Like ripping off a Band-Aid—the faster you do it, the less it'll hurt._

He spoke quickly, saying everything as if he were afraid any moment he'd lose the ability to speak altogether. "I was in a simulation. Everything was perfect, and I was happy, but I knew it wasn't real, and I couldn't find a way out. Then I ran into the guy that put me in there, and I thought 'maybe he thinks I can't remember', so I decided to play dumb and mess with him. I got this idea to kiss him and suddenly it was different. I wasn't messing with him anymore, I was just _feeling_ , for the first time in what felt like years, and I knew I should have said something, but at the same time I really wanted to keep feeling like that for a little longer. And then I was trying to think of a way to tell him, but I was terrified because I'd fallen for the guy, and the last thing I wanted was for this weird feeling to end."

As he finished speaking, the room fell into silence. Dane didn't say a word, didn't move an inch. Nervously, Bobby looked up at him, preparing himself for the inevitable look of anger or betrayal or _anything_ that meant the damage had been done; instead, Dane was smiling at him, his usually sharp eyes suddenly softer than Bobby had ever seen them.

"You know..." the demon spoke softly, running a hand through the younger man's hair as he spoke. "I had an interesting dream, too. I was fighting someone, and I found a way to trap him. I thought I'd won, but then after a while I discovered that it just wasn't the same without him there. Everything was... empty. Meaningless. So I went to talk to him, and before I had the chance to tell him how I felt, he kissed me. And I realized that this emptiness I'd been feeling, this hollow pointlessness, was something I hadn't felt before. I'd fallen in love, with the charming, stubborn man I'd only ever viewed as an obstacle. And it made me the happiest man alive, because even if he didn't love me back, I could try to be someone better for him. I could try to be someone that he could love."

 **[… and I'm drawing a blank on the ending, so hopefully this works. I'm still sorta proud of how this turned out, sorry for the abrupt end.]**


End file.
